Mon 15.10.

The official partner of ‘Salon Suisse’, initiated and organised by Pro Helvetia, is the Swiss bathroom specialist Laufen; photo by Laufen

Salon Suisse, the early evening event programme accompanying Miroslav Šik’s Swiss Pavilion exhibition at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia – returns tomorrow (16 October) with the second event block under the heading ‘Talking architecture practice,…and a touch of the Swiss.’ Curated by the London-based editor Robert Guy Wilson and held at the Palazzo degli Ulivi Trevisan, the series of readings, presentations, performances, panel discussions and workshops will ‘devote itself to architectural practice’ and ‘highlight the peculiarities of Swiss architecture’ while ‘drawing comparisons with the situation in the UK.’

The exhibition “Álvaro Siza. Viagem sem Programa” in the former Venetian Palazzo Querini, now the Fondazione Querini Stampalia, is the result of the many meetings the two curators – Greta Ruffino and Raul Betti – had with Álvaro Siza in his studio in Porto. The 53 works on show were developed from travel notes and sketches and were personally selected by the artist for the event. They narrate his work in architecture as well as his concept of life.

”The emphasis of the 2012 Biennale is on what we have in common. Above all, the ambition of Common Ground is to reassert the existence of an architectural culture, made up not just of singular talents but a rich continuity of diverse ideas united in a common history, common ambitions, common predicaments and ideals.”- explains David Chipperfield, who directed the 13th Biennale di Architettura.

The Board of Directors of the Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, appointed Kazuyo Sejima as Director of the Architecture Sector, with specific responsibility for curating the 12th International Architecture Exhibition to be held in Venice in the Giardini and Arsenale between 29th August and 21st November 2010 (vernissage on 26th , 27th and 28th August). Kazuyo Sejima is the first woman to direct the Architecture Sector of the Biennale.